Expanding and dilating device



Jan. 24, 1939. J. o. MICHEL EXPANDING AND DILATING DEVICE Filed Oct. 30,1936 INVENTOR James 0. flab/w Z- ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 24, 1939 r2,144,660

STATES ATEN'l" GEFFIQE EXPANDING AND DCELATING DEVICE James 0. Michel,Cliffside Park, N. 3., assignor of one-third to Louis J. Schroeder,North Bergen, N. J.

Application October 30, 1936, Serial No. 108,332

7 Claims. (Cl. 2941) This invention relates generally to expandingTherefore, the primary object of this invention or dilating devices andis more particularly diis to provide a simple, economical means forelimi'ectecl to so-called expanding rings, such as are inating thedisadvantages which reside in existinserted in the open ends of bags andthe like, ing methods of emptying the dust-collecting bags to facilitatethe performance of a filling or other of vacuum cleaners. operation. Itis also an important object of this invention While this invention issusceptible of a wide to provide a simple and efficient device forexrange of use, as hereinafter will become evident, panding the mouth ofa bag or similar flexible for the purposes of this disclosure, I haveelected container, which may be economically produced 113 to present itas it may be employed to expedite and readily installed in the bag as atemporary 10 the emptying of the dust-collecting bags of vacor permanentpart thereof, the device possessing uum cleaners, to which it isespecially applicable. characteristics which facilitate its performanceHowever, it will be understood that this is not of its intendedfunction. to be construed as a limitation of the scope or Another objectof my invention is to provide utility of my invention, since thosefeatures a device for expanding the wall of a bag or simi- 5 whichrender it peculiarly adaptable in meeting lar container formed offlexible material, espesanitary and other requirements in handling thecially in the zone of its mouth or outlet and at dust-collecting bags ofvacuum cleaners, will also the same time enable the user to direct thedisbe found to be advantageous in the handling of charge of the bagcontents from the expanded bags designed for other purposes. mouth oroutlet onto a suitable receiving sur- 20 As is well known, thedust-collecting bags of face, without the escape of particles of theconthe conventional household types of vacuum tents into the surroundingatmosphere, the decleaners, is open at both ends, one being providedvice being adapted to maintain the discharge oriwith a collar or fittingfor attachment to the suc lice in close contact or association with suchsurtion chamber, while the other, constituting the face. 25 mouth, is ofan enlarged area and is adapted to A further object of my invention isto provide be temporarily sealed by a slide clamp which enan adjustableexpanding device for vacuum gages with a bead surrounding the mouth.cleaner dust-collecting bags, which may be read- When functioning as acollector, the bag is supily inserted within and attached to the bag,the ported from the apparatus with the sealed mouth device being soconstituted that it may be 001- 30 disposed toward the outer end of thehandle or lapsed Within the bag when the latter is in its shaft by meansof which the cleaner is manipunormal position upon the cleaningapparatus and lated. actuated into functioning condition for the emp-When the bag is to be emptied, it must be distying of the bag contents,in a single continuconnected from the apparatus, the slide clamp ingoperation. 35 removed and the bag then held in an inverted Other objectsnd advantages flo ro the position to permit the contents to issue fro-mpracticing of my invention will become evident its mouth. Because of thecohesive characteras the description proceeds and I would have it isticsof the dust or sweepings and the lightness clearly understood that Ireserve unto myself all of the material it does not readily gravitatefrom rights to the full range of equivalents of my in- 40 the mouth ofthe inverted bag and, in consevention as disclosed, both in structureand in quence, the bag must be agitated either by shakuse, to which Imay be entitled under my invening or striking it with the hand. Thismakes it tion in its broadest aspect. impossible to discharge the bagcontents into the In the accompanying drawing I have illusreceivingreceptacle or upon a sheet of paper, trated a preferred form of myinvention which 45 as is the more general practice, without spillage isdesigned for use in conjunction with vacuum of the contents with aresultant flotation of large dust-collecting bags, although, as will bemaniquantities of the dust particles in the surroundfest, it may also beused for other purposes. Obing atmosphere. Obviously, apart from theunviously, my invention may take other forms withsanitary conditions towhich the methods that in the scope of this disclosure and within the 50must now be followed in emptying the bag conpurview of the appendedclaims. tribute, there is a distinct health menace, due In the drawing:to the inhalation of the suspended dust particles, Figure 1 is a planView of my expanding dewhich, in many instances are bacteria laden, byvice, showing the hinged or rotatable legs folded the person doing thework. within the ring or body-portion thereof. 56

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of a portion of a'vacuum cleanerdust-collecting bag, illustrative of the method of employingtheexpanding device of the preceding figure.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the dust-collectingbag, showing the position which my device assumes when functioning as anexpander of the mouth of the bag, one of the legs being in its collapsedor folded condition while the other is partly raised, and

Figure 5 is a view in perspective of a section of the dust-collectingbag when the latter is inverted for emptying, the legs of the expandingdevice being extended outwardly so that pressure may be applied to themto maintain the mouth of the bag in contact with the surface upon whichthe contents thereof are to be disposed.

Referring now to the drawing, in detail, in which like characters ofreference are employed to designate similar parts in the several views,7 indicates the body-portion or member of my expanding device, which issubstantially annular in shape or contour and preferably formed fromspring metal, in round stock.

As will be observed, the body-portion 1 is not a continuous ring, butterminates in overlapping sections la and lb, each of which embodies anintegrally formed hook disposed for engagement with the oppositesection, the two hooks 7c and Id serving to retain the ring sections inappropriate relationship and functioning as guides within which thesections may be actuated for varying the diameter of the expander to fitbags of different sizes, the requisite adjustment being maintained bythe interengagement of the serrations or teeth la and 7] formed on saidsections, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

At diametrically opposite stations on the bodyportion 7, I hinge thelegs 8 and 9, which, preferably, are approximately V-shape as shown,though they may take other configurations to suit production or otherrequirements. Any type of hinge connection that will serve the purposesof my invention may be utilized, in the present instance, the ends ofthe sides of the legs being looped about the body-portion 'l, as shownat Bar and 9a.

The expanding device is designed to be attached to the bag A wheninserted therein, as and for the purposes hereinafter explained. Thismay be variously accomplished. However, a simple and efficient attachingmedium consists of the fitting H which may be produced from any suitablematerial, and is shaped to embody a loop or tubular bearing portion lflawithin which the body-member l of the device is located for rela tivearcuate movement, the fitting being provided with tapered lugs orprojections II and I2 which are adapted to be passed through the bagmaterial and folded down thereupon to clamp the fitting to the bag, asshown in Figure 2. Preferably, the fitting I0 is located on thebodyportion 1 intermediate the sides of the shorter leg 8 of the deviceto facilitate the actuation of the latter into and out of itsnon-functioning and functioning positions.

t a point approximately opposite that at which the fitting I 0 isengaged with the bag, I provide a second fitting l3, which, likewise,embodies tapered lugs for fixing it to the bag wall, in the manner ofthe fitting ID, the portion of the fitting I3 which projects inwardlyfrom the wall of the bag being in the form of a hook, as

indicated at 3a, with its opening or jaw disposed downwardly for thereception of the bodymember of the device. (See Figures 2 and 3.) Ofcourse, the fitting l3 may take other forms in the attainment of theobjectives of this invention.

In the attachment of the device to the bag A, it is located injuxtaposition to the open end or mouth A which when the bag is supportedfrom the vacuum cleaner is sealed by the clamp A2, engaged with theconventional mouth-defining bead. Therefore, when the bag is thusfunctioning as a collector, the device is suspended from the fitting H]in parallel with the wall of the bag, the legs 8 and 9 being foldedwithin the area of the body member 1, with the larger leg 9 imderlyingthe leg 8, as is clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Now, when the bag is to be emptied, the clamp A2 is removed, whichpermits the mouth to open (the bag, of course, having been disconnectedfrom the apparatus and held in an inverted position) whereby the leg 9may be grasped and drawn upwardly toward the opening to produce acorresponding movement of the body member 7 to which it is hinged, untilthe latter member is engaged beneath the hook of the fitting l3,assuming a horizontal position as shown in Figure 4, to distend orexpand the mouth of the bag in conformity with the contour of the bodymember.

As the upward movement of the leg 9 is initiated, the leg 8,superimposed thereupon, is simultaneously raised until the leg clearsit, to leave the leg 8 in a partially raised position where it may beconveniently grasped to swing or rotate it outwardly, so that both legsmay be extended or projected laterally of the bag in the horizontalplane of the body-portion 1 of the device, as shown in Figure 5.Disposal of the bag contents may now be effected, while the bag mouth ismaintained in fiat contact with a receiving surface, as a sheet of paperB or the like, by the person doing the work standing upon the legs 8 and9 and permitting the collected material to gravitate from the distendedbag into a pile on such sheet. If agitation of the bagis found to benecessary to thoroughly discharge the contents, it may be shaken withoutdislodgment from the sheet upon which it is poised and without theemission of dust particles into the atmosphere with its detrimentaleffects.

Of course, the leg 8 may be the longer or both legs may be of a likelength and the sequence of the steps followed in actuating the expandingdevice into functioning position may be varied. This is also true as tocollapsing it or folding it into position within the bag for thereplacement of the latter on its mountings of the apparatus.customarily, the leg 9 may be grasped to urge the body-member 1downwardly out of contact with the fitting l3, the downward movement ofthe member 1 causing the leg 8 to drop into its normally dependentposition as the leg 9 is folded thereunder in the storage operation.

Obviously the diameter of the body-member I may be adjusted to thedesired size, by separating the overlapping sections thereof andpermitting the oppositely disposed teeth or serrations to interengagewhen the desired diameter has been attained by sliding the sectionsrelatively to one another.

While I have described my invention more or less specifically withreference to the embodiment shown, it will be evident, as heretoforepointed out, that the details of structure may be varied, also the modeof operation and use. Likewise, the invention may be employed inconjunction with other types of bags than that shown and with bagsdesigned for use with apparatus other than vacuum cleaners, or forfilling or emptying bags generally, without departing from the spiritand scope of my invention which is broadly directed to the attainment ofthe objectives hereinbefore set forth.

I claim:

1. The combination with a dust-collecting bag of a vacuum cleaner of adevice normally separate therefrom for facilitating the emptying of thecontents thereof, said device including an approximately annularexpansible and contractible member, means for suspending said devicewithin said bag and parallel to the wall thereof for relative arcuatemovement to a position at a right angle to said wall and adjacent to theoutlet of said bag, to expand said bag outlet in conformation to theshape of said member, and means embracing with said member for relativemovement adapted to be projected laterally of said bag in a planeparallel to that of said outlet, to be utilize-d for pressing theexpanded outlet into contact with a surface upon which it may besuperposed for emptying the bag contents.

2. The combination with a dust-collecting bag of a vacuum cleaner, of adevice normally separate therefrom for facilitating the emptying of thecontents thereof, said device including an expansible approximatelyannular member, means for suspending said member within said bag andparallel to the wall thereof for bodily relative movement to a positionat a right angle thereto and adjacent to the outlet of said bag, wherebysaid bag outlet will conform to the shape of said member, means carriedby said bag for engaging said member to retain the latter in saidoutletexpanding position and means hinged to said member adapted to beprojected laterally of said bag in the plane of said outlet, to beutilized for pressing the expanded outlet into close association with asurface upon which it may be disposed for the emptying of the contentsof the bag thereon.

3. A device for expanding the outlet of a dustcollecting bag of a vacuumcleaner, including an adjustable ring of resilient material normallyseparate therefrom, means for suspending said ring within the bag forrelative movement from a non-functioning to a functioning position andmeans oppositely disposed in hinged engagement with said ring adapted tobe projected laterally of said bag in the plane of said outlet, wherebythe latter may be pressed into close association with a surface uponwhich the contents of the bag are to be discharged.

4. A device for expanding the mouth of a ba or similar receptaclecomprising a ring of resilient material normally separate therefromadapted to be removably inserted in the bag, means for engaging saidring to the bag in its mouth-expanding position and a pair of membersembracing said ring for movement to positions laterally of said bag andin the plane of the mouth thereof when expanded, said members serving asmedia whereby the expanded mouth of the bag may be pressed into closecontact with a surface upon which it may be superimposed.

5. A device for expanding the mouth of a bag or similar receptacle,comprising a ring of resilient material normally separate therefrom,adapted to be associated with the mouth of the bag to expand the sameand means hinged to said ring, normally disposable within the area ofsaid ring, said means being movable to a position laterally of the bagto be utilized to press the expanded mouth thereof, when the bag isinverted for contact with a surface upon which it may be superimposedfor emptying.

6. A device for expanding the discharge outlet of a dust collecting bagof a vacuum cleaning appliance, comprising a ring of resilient materialnormally separate from the bag, having overlapping ends connected forrelative movement, adapted to be associated with said outlet and expandthe same in conforming engagement therewith, in response to the relativemovement of the overlapped ends, said ring, at diametrically oppositestations, having approximately V-shaped members hinged thereto at theirspaced ends, for relatively arcuate movement through a path at a rightangle to the plane of the ring to locate them within the ring and in theplane thereof for stowage, and in a reverse direction to dispose themoutwardly of said ring, and in the plane thereof, to be utilized inpressing the expanded outlet of the bag in close contact with thesurface on which its contents are to be discharged.

'7. A device for expanding the discharge outlet of a vacuum cleaningappliance dust collecting bag for emptying it of its contents, whendetached from the appliance, comprising a ring formed of resilientmaterial, normally separate from the bag and attachable thereto forengagement with the outlet defining portion thereof to expand the samein conformity with the shape of said ring, said ring having membersdiametrically oppositely hinged thereto for movement to a position at aright angle to the wall of the bag to be utilized in pressing theexpanded outlet into contact with a surface upon which the contents areto be emptied, said members being reversely movable to locate themwithin the area of the ring for stowage.

JAMES O. MICHEL.

